Stray knitted beret

After knitting Tasha's Victory beret pattern I realized how much I enjoyed color work knitting and immediately got started on another project, Andi Satterlund's Stray beret. It's probably not a surprise to anyone that this was my next knitting project, my love for leopard print is well documented throughout my blog. I have leopard clothes, so of course the next step would be knitting a beanie :)

This beret may not look as complicated as the last one I knit, but trust me, it definitely took awhile to get the hang of things. With the Victory beret there were many different colors used throughout, but while knitting there were only two colors used in each row. With Stray I learned how to knit with three strands at once. In my right hand I held the tan (main color) and in my left I held the dark brown and black. As I went along it seemed like the dark brown yarn wasn't being held tight enough and looked a little puffy. Luckily my problems blocked right out for the most part.

I would like to inform everyone that I have since gotten my bangs trimmed, so no need to stress over that situation!

The yarn was purchased online at Knit Picks. I used the Swish DK Yarn which was nice to knit with and was super affordable. I tend to knit pretty tight, so I used needles a size up, a 3 for the ribbing and a 6 for the color work. Knitting with double pointed needles drives me crazy, so I used magic loop to finish off.

Knitting guts!

Every knitting project that I have made so far has used the same cast on method and when I saw that this one required a stretchy cast on I was excited to learn something new. I wasn't sure how to go about starting it, so I lurked around on YouTube and found this tutorial to be super helpful. The finished edge was super stretchy (mission complete) and I can see how it's perfect for a hat.

I enjoy blocking berets because they are so easy! Soak them in water for a half hour and then stretch them over a dinner plate to dry.

Lebron doesn't know what to think.

Overall, the pattern was great to knit. Andi did a good job of designing something that looks difficult, but is actually really straightforward to make. Now I just need recommendations for another color work pattern. What's your favorite? I think I'm addicted.

That is amazing! I would imagine an animal print would be extra tricky to knit since the pattern is random. It looks so great, though. If you haven't knit the Endpaper mitts by Eunny Jang those are fun and easy. For something a little more difficult I think the bird pattern on the Nightingale socks (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nightingale-2) is so pretty (I didn't actually use the pattern to make the socks so I can't vouch for the directions but I used the chart to make a sweater (http://relovedrevolution.blogspot.com/2013/02/vintage-modern-post-script.html). Or if you're in need of something ambitious this baby blanket probably took me longer to knit than it was actually big enough for baby girl to sleep under (http://relovedrevolution.blogspot.com/2012/06/latvian-baby-blanket.html).

Your color work is totally blowing me away!!! You're so amazing. I'll try it eventually but I think I'll have to work through it with a video class for extra hand holding. I do so much better with the videos. So what are you going to try next? I still think we need to make BFF Berets ;)

About Me

Hi! I'm Erin Fosmire and I like reading, sewing leopard print stuff, beach walking, quilting, and knitting in Pismo Beach, California. I'm currently life sidekicking with my husband Luke and living with our three cats and three dogs.